Heat 88, Spurs 86: The big letdown

Gregg Popovich expressed mock outrage upon hearing that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers would skip Sunday’s game at the AT&T Center. “What kind of (expletive) is that?” he joked. Popovich then worried about a potential letdown, citing how well the Spurs played without four rotation players in the previous meeting. But while the Spurs eventually faltered in that game, the Heat finished this one off as Chris Bosh’s last-second 3-pointer all but clinched the top overall seed.

Player of the game

With James and Wade occupying so much of the spotlight, it’s easy to forget just how good Bosh can be. He slid seamlessly back into the lead role he manned for so many years in Toronto, scoring a game-high 23 points with nine rebounds. Bosh has never been a great long-range shooter — career 3-point percentage: 25.8 — but he was good enough on Sunday, making 3 of 5 attempts as Miami outscored the Spurs by 15 points from beyond the arc.

The turning point

The Spurs got a break in Friday’s victory over the Clippers, when Duncan appeared to drag his pivot foot before hoisting the game-winning jumper. The basketball gods returned the favor on Sunday as Norris Cole, seeming to trip over his own feet, drew a dubious foul from Kawhi Leonard on an ill-advised drive with 32.1 seconds remaining. He made both foul shots, and Bosh followed with the winner after Duncan missed a mid-range shot over Udonis Haslem.

Continuation

* There was zero doubt who the Heat considered their top defensive priority. They made Tony Parker’s life miserable, trapping him at virtually every opportunity. He finished with 12 points, one fewer than Cole and his lowest output since a loss at New York on Jan. 3, a span of 28 games.

“They did a great job on pick-and-rolls all night long,” Popovich said. “Without Manu (Ginobili, see below), Tony is the guy who has to generate things for us and they pretty much took him out with all their double teams and hard hedges.”

* The game-winning bucket was less a breakdown by the Spurs than good execution from the Heat, who — much to Shane Battier’s delight — eschewed a timeout to prevent going against a set defense after Duncan missed a foul-line jumper with 11.9 seconds left.

The Heat ran Ray Allen, the NBA’s all-time 3-point leader, off a screen, drawing Tiago Splitter off Bosh to help Danny Green before Duncan was just a fraction of a second late on what was otherwise a solid contest.

“Do not let the defense set,” Battier said. “You go and attack. Make it crazy and hopefully someone is open…versus calling timeout and letting the Spurs sub their defensive squad in. A situation like that, you have a much better chance of scoring.”

* Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made a great observation about how similar both teams were stylistically. For the Spurs, ball and player movement are a way of life. For the Heat, missing almost 57 points from their starting lineup, it was even more of a priority. “(The ball) was popping,” Spoelstra said. “It was good basketball.”

Their success from the perimeter allowed them to overcome huge deficits on the interior, where the Spurs led 49-33 on the glass and 46-18 on points in the paint. In that regard, it was similar to the type of upsets you see in the NCAA tournament, where teams use to 3-point line as the great equalizer.

Such was the case Sunday, with the Heat outshooting San Antonio 42.9 percent to 29.2 from beyond the arc.

* As if losing wasn’t bad enough, the Spurs were forced to play Kawhi Leonard (37), Tim Duncan (35) and Parker (37) major minutes with a tough road game at Memphis tomorrow night. It’s the first of two back-to-backs the Spurs will play in the next five days, which includes a visit to Oklahoma City on Thursday.

San Antonio’s lead over the Thunder was cut to 1.5 in the standings, and two in the loss column.